Weathering has started. In the past I already experimented with some minor scratches, but something all-over like this is new for me. I'm not entirely happy about it, some regions simply look too messy but it's something I will try out more in the future.

The metallics need some weathering and rust effect as well. When that is done then some small details (like the lenses) still have to painted, probably using light blue.

Welcome to my report of SMC2013. Note for the impatient: If you're not interested in my experiences but just want to see some pictures, feel free to scroll to the bottom of this article where you can find links to the image galleries, thanks!

Just like last year I was present at Scale Model Challenge, a modeling event held in Veldhoven, The Netherlands. And with modeling I mean: military vehicles, diorama's, historical busts and of course (a small but growing) share of fantasy & sf figures.

Last year's event was HUGE, but to my surprise the 2013 edition was even bigger. Kudo's to the organizing club (Scale Model Factory) and everyone else involved. I've seen painting competitions 10 times smaller fail to bring everything to good ending, but SMC does it all in a flawless and professional way.

I booked a table again to do some painting during the day. Just like last year the interaction with the public was great. I brought my painting friends Gert, Pascal and Maartje (which in her turn brought Martin) with me and again we painted under the "Lage Landen Schildervrienden" banner.

Here are some pictures of our table. That's me painting :) it was still quite early in the day so not that crowded yet. That's Maartje on the right, that day she picked up her painting brush again after a long absence from the hobby. I hope I motivated her enough that day to get painting again more frequently :)

Martin on the left:

In the center you can see Pascal talking to the legendary Peter Zuidgeest (in the yellow checkered shirt, winner of several army painting contests) .

Peter again, together with Gert.

An overview of the club area:

Lot's of interesting stuff on display, but I was really flabbergasted by this model, entirely made of cardboard. Check the next picture for some amazing statistics on this project.

In the afternoon a speed painting competition was held. The fortune wheel you see at the end of the table was spun from time to time, giving the painters missions like "paint with one hand only" or "cover one eye" :)

New this year was a "game zone". Where some vendors were situated and also some painters. Just like last year some Massive Voodoo people were present.

I didn't really miss going to GD Germany this year to see the models because I knew that I would be able to see a lot of them in real life in other events. So I was very glad to see Roman Lappat's Slayer Sword winning project. Very amazing to see, very hard to capture on camera :)

Freebooter and Micro Art Studios were also present, although I got the impression they didn't get the amount of attention they're used to (like on an event at Crisis). I think the percentage of gamers in the crowd is just too low on an event like this. But any kind of sf/fantasy input in this event should be praised.

Gigantic Miniatures was also present, a name not very known to me. Until I saw this masterpiece in their display cabinet, one of the eye catchers at this year's Euro Militaire. They also had an unpainted version on display, with a sign next to it saying it was not yet ready for sale. I think marketing wise it would have been better to have this figure available for sale right after the Euro Militaire show, when a lot of people want to buy this figure.

Some big names were giving painting demos this year. This is Pepa Saavedra from Spain in action.

Now onto the painting competition. Lot's of categories, and lot's of tanks.

Huge, detailed diorama's:

It was here that I stumbled upon fellow blogger Vlado Simic from Germany. Fun guy, it was great meeting him.

The eye catcher on the fantasy figures table was this Clang The Implacable by Vlado. Fantastic piece of work!

My entries in the competition: I won a silver medal :D

Some more of my favorites, remember you can view the full set in the galleries which are linked at the bottom of this article plus a short clip on YouTube.

Huge diorama by Peter Zuidgeest:

I also did some filming, a short fly-by of the fantasy figure categories. I wanted to do some more filming but I'm having some technical problems with the editing software on my new laptop.

Finally the picture I already showed you the evening of SMC, my two models which entered the competition together with the silver medal. Secretly I hoped for a gold medal, but that wasn't really realistic since Dark Vlad has some flaws and I was forced to cut some corners with the Brood Master due to time constraints (I finished the model about 12 hours before the opening of the contest :)

Finally here's a list of links to other galleries and blog posts, starting with my own full picture gallery both on Facebook and Google+. The link collection will be expanded in the next few days as I find more resources online.

Just a quick note to tell you all about Scale Model Challenge 2013 which is happening next Sunday, 13 October. Just like last year I will be painting with a couple of friends and participating in the competition.